The board of directors of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia is pleased to announce a strategic management transition of its Diocesan Investment Fund to The Episcopal Church endowment. The move will help ensure the long-term sustainability of resources entrusted to the diocese.
“For decades, our fund has been managed by volunteers overseen by the board’s Investments Committee,” the board noted in a letter to shareholders. “While this has served us well in the past, the complexity of modern markets requires institutional expertise.”
By moving management of the assets into a new custodial trust account within the churchwide endowment managed by the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (DFMS), the diocese will receive the following benefits to its $100 million investment fund:
- Mission alignment: Compliance with The Episcopal Church’s “no-buy” list and participation in the church’s active corporate social responsibility and impact investing programs, as governed by General Convention resolutions, making sure diocesan investments align with church’s mission and values.
- Global institutional management: Access to managers and asset classes that can diversify risk and support investment returns in times of market volatility, while still complying with The Episcopal Church’s stated values. These investment opportunities are typically reserved for much larger endowments.
- Continued low fee structure: The Episcopal Church does not charge any management fees for custodial accounts, and investment fees are very competitive due to the scale of the DFMS Trust assets.
- Strong performance: The DFMS Trust has generated an average annual return of 8.3% net of fees since 1993. The benchmark used to evaluate the performance of the DIF showed an annual return of 7.8%.
“As faithful followers of Jesus in Western Washington, this change will help congregations better support mission-critical ministries throughout our diocese,” Olympia Bishop Phil LaBelle said. “We are thrilled to partner with DFMS in this way.”
The diocese will continue to manage deposits to and withdrawals from its Diocesan Investment Fund and can elect to withdraw from the DFMS Trust in the future. Learn more about the decision to transfer the fund in this FAQ document.
The partnership is an example of The Episcopal Church Center’s commitment and initiative to offer dioceses and congregations support in investment management, long-term financial planning, and real estate development.
“The custodial trust fund investing program is one of the most important ways the Church Center’s Finance Office supports dioceses and congregations in their ministry,” said Episcopal Church Chief Financial Officer Chris Lacovara. “We are honored that the Diocese of Olympia has joined the program, and we look forward to serving the diocese and its congregations in the years to come.”